scholarly journals Comparison of Backpack, Handheld, Under-Canopy UAV, and Above-Canopy UAV Laser Scanning for Field Reference Data Collection in Boreal Forests

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 3327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Hyyppä ◽  
Xiaowei Yu ◽  
Harri Kaartinen ◽  
Teemu Hakala ◽  
Antero Kukko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Point Cloud ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Reference Data ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Tree Level ◽  
Stem Volume ◽  
Point Cloud Data ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Individual Trees

In this work, we compared six emerging mobile laser scanning (MLS) technologies for field reference data collection at the individual tree level in boreal forest conditions. The systems under study were an in-house developed AKHKA-R3 backpack laser scanner, a handheld Zeb-Horizon laser scanner, an under-canopy UAV (Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle) laser scanning system, and three above-canopy UAV laser scanning systems providing point clouds with varying point densities. To assess the performance of the methods for automated measurements of diameter at breast height (DBH), stem curve, tree height and stem volume, we utilized all of the six systems to collect point cloud data on two 32 m-by-32 m test sites classified as sparse (n = 42 trees) and obstructed (n = 43 trees). To analyze the data collected with the two ground-based MLS systems and the under-canopy UAV system, we used a workflow based on our recent work featuring simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technology, a stem arc detection algorithm, and an iterative arc matching algorithm. This workflow enabled us to obtain accurate stem diameter estimates from the point cloud data despite a small but relevant time-dependent drift in the SLAM-corrected trajectory of the scanner. We found out that the ground-based MLS systems and the under-canopy UAV system could be used to measure the stem diameter (DBH) with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 2–8%, whereas the stem curve measurements had an RMSE of 2–15% that depended on the system and the measurement height. Furthermore, the backpack and handheld scanners could be employed for sufficiently accurate tree height measurements (RMSE = 2–10%) in order to estimate the stem volumes of individual trees with an RMSE of approximately 10%. A similar accuracy was obtained when combining stem curves estimated with the under-canopy UAV system and tree heights extracted with an above-canopy flying laser scanning unit. Importantly, the volume estimation error of these three MLS systems was found to be of the same level as the error corresponding to manual field measurements on the two test sites. To analyze point cloud data collected with the three above-canopy flying UAV systems, we used a random forest model trained on field reference data collected from nearby plots. Using the random forest model, we were able to estimate the DBH of individual trees with an RMSE of 10–20%, the tree height with an RMSE of 2–8%, and the stem volume with an RMSE of 20–50%. Our results indicate that ground-based and under-canopy MLS systems provide a promising approach for field reference data collection at the individual tree level, whereas the accuracy of above-canopy UAV laser scanning systems is not yet sufficient for predicting stem attributes of individual trees for field reference data with a high accuracy.

scholarly journals Nondestructive Estimation of the Above-Ground Biomass of Multiple Tree Species in Boreal Forests of China Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 936 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen ◽  
Feng ◽  
Chen ◽  
Khan ◽  
Lian
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Point Cloud ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Point Cloud Data ◽  
Above Ground Biomass ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Non Destructive ◽  
Multiple Tree

Above-ground biomass (AGB) plays a pivotal role in assessing a forest’s resource dynamics, ecological value, carbon storage, and climate change effects. The traditional methods of AGB measurement are destructive, time consuming and laborious, and an efficient, relatively accurate and non-destructive AGB measurement method will provide an effective supplement for biomass calculation. Based on the real biophysical and morphological structures of trees, this paper adopted a non-destructive method based on terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) point cloud data to estimate the AGBs of multiple common tree species in boreal forests of China, and the effects of differences in bark roughness and trunk curvature on the estimation of the diameter at breast height (DBH) from TLS data were quantitatively analyzed. We optimized the quantitative structure model (QSM) algorithm based on 100 trees of multiple tree species, and then used it to estimate the volume of trees directly from the tree model reconstructed from point cloud data, and to calculate the AGBs of trees by using specific basic wood density values. Our results showed that the total DBH and tree height from the TLS data showed a good consistency with the measured data, since the bias, root mean square error (RMSE) and determination coefficient (R2) of the total DBH were −0.8 cm, 1.2 cm and 0.97, respectively. At the same time, the bias, RMSE and determination coefficient of the tree height were −0.4 m, 1.3 m and 0.90, respectively. The differences of bark roughness and trunk curvature had a small effect on DBH estimation from point cloud data. The AGB estimates from the TLS data showed strong agreement with the reference values, with the RMSE, coefficient of variation of root mean square error (CV(RMSE)), and concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) values of 17.4 kg, 13.6% and 0.97, respectively, indicating that this non-destructive method can accurately estimate tree AGBs and effectively calibrate new allometric biomass models. We believe that the results of this study will benefit forest managers in formulating management measures and accurately calculating the economic and ecological benefits of forests, and should promote the use of non-destructive methods to measure AGB of trees in China.

scholarly journals Under-Canopy UAV Laser Scanning Providing Canopy Height and Stem Volume Accurately

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 856
Author(s):  
Juha Hyyppä ◽  
Xiaowei Yu ◽  
Teemu Hakala ◽  
Harri Kaartinen ◽  
Antero Kukko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Standard Error ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Reference Data ◽  
Laser Scanner ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Canopy Height ◽  
Stem Volume ◽  
Scanning System ◽  
Individual Trees

The automation of forest field reference data collection has been an intensive research objective for laser scanning scientists ever since the invention of terrestrial laser scanning more than two decades ago. In this study, we demonstrated that an under-canopy UAV laser scanning system utilizing a rotating laser scanner can alone provide accurate estimates of canopy height and stem volume for the majority of trees in a boreal forest. We mounted a rotating laser scanner based on a Velodyne VLP-16 sensor onboard a manually piloted UAV. The UAV was commanded with the help of a live video feed from the onboard camera. Since the system was based on a rotating laser scanner providing varying view angles, all important elements such as treetops, branches, trunks, and ground could be recorded with laser hits. In an experiment including two different forest structures, namely sparse and obstructed canopy, we showed that our system can measure the heights of individual trees with a bias of −20 cm and a standard error of 40 cm in the sparse forest and with a bias of −65 cm and a standard error of 1 m in the obstructed forest. The accuracy of the obtained tree height estimates was equivalent to airborne above-canopy UAV surveys conducted in similar forest conditions or even at the same sites. The higher underestimation and higher inaccuracy in the obstructed site can be attributed to three trees with a height exceeding 25 m and the reduced point density of these tree tops due to occlusion and the limited ranging capacity of the scanner. Additionally, we used our system to estimate the stem volumes of individual trees with a standard error at the level of 10%. This level of error is equivalent to the error obtained when merging above-canopy UAV laser scanner data with terrestrial point cloud data. The results show that we do not necessarily need a combination of terrestrial point clouds and point clouds collected using above-canopy UAV systems in order to accurately estimate the heights and the volumes of individual trees in reference data collection.

scholarly journals An Efficient Filtering Approach for Removing Outdoor Point Cloud Data of Manhattan-World Buildings

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 3796
Author(s):  
Lei Fan ◽  
Yuanzhi Cai
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Point Cloud Data ◽  
Hole Filling ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Indoor Space ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Data Points ◽  
Filtering Approach

Laser scanning is a popular means of acquiring the indoor scene data of buildings for a wide range of applications concerning indoor environment. During data acquisition, unwanted data points beyond the indoor space of interest can also be recorded due to the presence of openings, such as windows and doors on walls. For better visualization and further modeling, it is beneficial to filter out those data, which is often achieved manually in practice. To automate this process, an efficient image-based filtering approach was explored in this research. In this approach, a binary mask image was created and updated through mathematical morphology operations, hole filling and connectively analysis. The final mask obtained was used to remove the data points located outside the indoor space of interest. The application of the approach to several point cloud datasets considered confirms its ability to effectively keep the data points in the indoor space of interest with an average precision of 99.50%. The application cases also demonstrate the computational efficiency (0.53 s, at most) of the approach proposed.

scholarly journals VISUALIZATION OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF ANCIENT ROMAN BUILDINGS IN OSTIA USING POINT CLOUD DATA

2017 ◽  
Vol XLII-2/W3 ◽  
pp. 345-352
Author(s):  
Y. Hori ◽  
T. Ogawa
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Feature Matching ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Point Cloud Data ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Coverage Accuracy ◽  
New Research

The implementation of laser scanning in the field of archaeology provides us with an entirely new dimension in research and surveying. It allows us to digitally recreate individual objects, or entire cities, using millions of three-dimensional points grouped together in what is referred to as "point clouds". In addition, the visualization of the point cloud data, which can be used in the final report by archaeologists and architects, should usually be produced as a JPG or TIFF file. Not only the visualization of point cloud data, but also re-examination of older data and new survey of the construction of Roman building applying remote-sensing technology for precise and detailed measurements afford new information that may lead to revising drawings of ancient buildings which had been adduced as evidence without any consideration of a degree of accuracy, and finally can provide new research of ancient buildings. We used laser scanners at fields because of its speed, comprehensive coverage, accuracy and flexibility of data manipulation. Therefore, we “skipped” many of post-processing and focused on the images created from the meta-data simply aligned using a tool which extended automatic feature-matching algorithm and a popular renderer that can provide graphic results.

scholarly journals From Point Cloud Data to Building Information Modelling: An Automatic Parametric Workflow for Heritage

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mesrop Andriasyan ◽  
Juan Moyano ◽  
Juan Enrique Nieto-Julián ◽  
Daniel Antón
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Accuracy Assessment ◽  
Parametric Modelling ◽  
Point Cloud Data ◽  
Building Information Modelling ◽  
Historical Interpretation ◽  
Information Modelling ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Building Information

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a globally adapted methodology by government organisations and builders who conceive the integration of the organisation, planning, development and the digital construction model into a single project. In the case of a heritage building, the Historic Building Information Modelling (HBIM) approach is able to cover the comprehensive restoration of the building. In contrast to BIM applied to new buildings, HBIM can address different models which represent either periods of historical interpretation, restoration phases or records of heritage assets over time. Great efforts are currently being made to automatically reconstitute the geometry of cultural heritage elements from data acquisition techniques such as Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) or Structure From Motion (SfM) into BIM (Scan-to-BIM). Hence, this work advances on the parametric modelling from remote sensing point cloud data, which is carried out under the Rhino+Grasshopper-ArchiCAD combination. This workflow enables the automatic conversion of TLS and SFM point cloud data into textured 3D meshes and thus BIM objects to be included in the HBIM project. The accuracy assessment of this workflow yields a standard deviation value of 68.28 pixels, which is lower than other author’s precision but suffices for the automatic HBIM of the case study in this research.

Design of Light-Small Mobile 3D Laser Measurement System

2013 ◽  
Vol 405-408 ◽  
pp. 3032-3036
Author(s):  
Yi Bo Sun ◽  
Xin Qi Zheng ◽  
Zong Ren Jia ◽  
Gang Ai
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Laser Scanner ◽  
Digital Camera ◽  
Scanning System ◽  
Point Cloud Data ◽  
3D Laser Scanning ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Laser Scanning System

At present, most of the commercial 3D laser scanning measurement systems do work for a large area and a big scene, but few shows their advantage in the small area or small scene. In order to solve this shortage, we design a light-small mobile 3D laser scanning system, which integrates GPS, INS, laser scanner and digital camera and other sensors, to generate the Point Cloud data of the target through data filtering and fusion. This system can be mounted on airborne or terrestrial small mobile platform and enables to achieve the goal of getting Point Cloud data rapidly and reconstructing the real 3D model. Compared to the existing mobile 3D laser scanning system, the system we designed has high precision but lower cost, smaller hardware and more flexible.

The Application and Research of Terrestrial 3D Laser Scanning Technology in Tunnel Survey

2014 ◽  
Vol 709 ◽  
pp. 465-468
Author(s):  
Xian Quan Han ◽  
Fei Qin ◽  
Zhen Zhang ◽  
Shang Yi Yang
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
3D Model ◽  
Analysis Procedure ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Point Cloud Data ◽  
3D Laser Scanning ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Experimental Application ◽  
Tunnel Section

This paper examines the basic flow and processing of the terrestrial 3D Laser scanning technology in the tunnel survey. The use of the method is discussed, point cloud data which have been registered, cropped can be constructed to a complete tunnel surface model. An example is given to extract the tunnel section and calculate the excavation of the tunnel. Result of the experimental application of this analysis procedure is given to illustrate the proposed technique can be flexibly used according to the need based on its 3D model. The feasibility and advantages of terrestrial 3D laser scanning technology in tunnel survey is also considered.

scholarly journals Intelligent crack extraction based on terrestrial laser scanning measurement

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 416-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Yang ◽  
Xiangyang Xu
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Terrestrial Laser Scanning ◽  
Point Cloud Data ◽  
Time Cost ◽  
Visual Examination ◽  
Average Width ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Novel Method

The hazards of cracks, which could badly decrease reliability and safety of structures, are receiving increasing attention with the popularity of tunnel constructions. Traditional crack inspection relies on visual examination, which is time-, cost- and labor-intensive. Therefore, how to identify and measure cracks intelligently is significantly essential. The paper focuses on the Canny method to extract cracks of tunnel structures by the intensity value of reflectivity. We propose and investigate a novel method which combines dilation and the Canny algorithm to identify and extract the cracks automatically and intelligently based on the point cloud data of terrestrial laser scanning measurement. In order for measurement of cracks, the projection of summed edge pixels is adopted, where a synthesis is carried out on the detection results with all sampling parameters. Based on the synthesized image, vertical crack presents two sharp peaks where the space of the peaks indicates the average width of the crack, as well as its position. The advantage of the method is that it does not require determination of Canny detector parameters. The deviation between manual measurement and Canny detection is 2.92%.

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